The African American Civil War Memorial and Museum was opened in Washington D.C., in 1998, to preserve and tell the stories of the United States Colored Troops and African American involvement in the American Civil War. 

Sculpted by Ed Hamilton, The Spirit of Freedom 

memorializes three groups of African Americans: The soldiers, the displaced who followed them, and the Navy - the one branch of the United States military where Blacks had been serving freely since its early formation as the Continental Navy, during the American Revolution.